Twenty-four tykes sit on the stoop of St. Paul’s Church on the Corner, dutifully clutching their Chancellor Street totes, as Bodo’s-bound undergrads stream by. Just before noon, one by one, teachers Heather Swindler or Pam Evans (who prefer kids don’t call them “Ms.”) escort each student to his parent’s idling vehicle, buckles him into his car seat and recounts a specific anecdote from that child’s day.
“I like the way Theo took turns shooting basketballs at the hoop with Dylan today,” Evans says to me as I pick up my 4-year-old son one afternoon.
Another successful day at one of Charlottesville’s two veteran cooperative preschools. The other is Molly Michie, Charlottesville’s first racially integrated preschool, which opened in 1967. They stand out among our region’s many Reggio Emilia- and Montessori-inspired preschools. A co-op teaches students—and their parents—how to cooperate with difficult peers, forging ties that bind long after socialization to kindergarten.
These families initially choose co-ops because the price is right. It costs around $250 a month to attend either Chancellor Street or Molly Michie five mornings a week. In turn, parents do significantly more volunteer work than their peers at standard drop-and-pickup daycares, to supplement the limited staff (just two full-time teachers at both co-ops). Each parent “co-ops” (works side-by-side with staff teachers) once every few weeks, and has a mandatory annual post, from handbook editor to the treasurer to guest speaker coordinator. It’s a quid pro quo system that only functions if all parents participate, whether that means showing up for work days and meetings, reading school listserv e-mails or even trading shifts when someone’s homebound with a new baby or illness.
“Our first year here everyone stepped up 100 percent all the time,” says Chancellor Street board co-chair Jake Oswalt, whose 5-year-old son Eoin is in his third year. “It just depends on the generation of parents coming through, and how accepting the teachers are.”
Co-ops aren’t just cheap. They offer instant community, which attracts young families new to the area. Each summer, parents host weekly spray park play dates; after-school playgroups continue to meet at Greenleaf, Belmont and Forest Hills parks come fall; bonds form at potlucks, Camp Albemarle overnights, an annual Halloween parade and parent-chaperoned field trips.
Chancellor Street and Molly Michie strike the balance between free play—including 30 minutes outdoors every day—and fixed routine. After morning meeting, Chancellor students flex their fine motor skills cutting and gluing a mixed-media art project. There’s a free hour to bang on marimbas, hammer nails and crank hand drills at the woodworking table or don a fireman suit to write up reports at the station. During a unit on fruits and vegetables, Molly Michie students cut and plant potato eyes, green pepper seeds, beans and popcorn kernels, lessons reinforced through field trips to Earlysville’s Open Gate Farm and to see The Very Hungry Caterpillar at The Paramount Theater.
Chancellor Street (c-street.org) commingles ages: 3-year-old “Bugs” and 4-year-old “Clowns” only separate at group check-in and then for snack. Molly Michie (mollymichiepreschool.org) keeps 4-year-olds, the only ones who attend five days, in a separate classroom, with a more formal Creative Curriculum framework. Molly Michie enrolls children as young as 2.
Both schools offer limited scholarships, and are thoroughly secular. Says Evans, “[Chancellor Street and Molly Michie] pay rent to our church landlords—both lovely, community-oriented congregations—but we are open to all and run secular curricula.”—Laura McCandlish
Can’t make the co-op commitment?
Ivy single mom Ambha Lessard didn’t research options for her 4-year-old son Kingston until last spring—when most coveted spots were already snatched up. Lessard contemplated Head Start but then found Kingston a reduced-tuition slot at Charlottesville Waldorf School—and appreciated the same focus on outdoor play her son enjoyed at Nature’s Bloom Childcare. “Any discount helps,” said Lessard, who works at State Farm and goes to college at UVA.
Here’s an incomplete list (there are too many!) of other credible preschools to consider. Don’t forget perennial Best of C-VILLE winners ACAC and Bright Beginnings, plus reputable daycares (including those that are home-based). It’s not too early to apply for next year; popular preschools can fill up by mid-winter.
CBI Preschool & Kindergarten: Reggio Emilia-style curriculum; Jewish values, music and holidays; weekly challah baking. cbipreschool.org
Charlottesville Day School: Age 2 through Pre-K (or stay through eighth grade); Spanish and music classes. cvilledayschool.org
First Presbyterian: Popular even with non-religious parents of kids age 20 months through 5 years. firstprescharlottesville.org/preschool
First United Methodist: Several Chancellor Street families considered this and First Presbyterian, too. cvillefirstunitedmethodist.org/preschool.htm
Hillside School: Home-based art preschool. facebook.com/Hillside-School-344676532316071
The International School of Charlottesville: Spanish and French immersion. theisc.org
It Takes a Village Playschool: Tuesday and Thursday Waldorf/Reggio/Montessori-esque, nature- and home-based school for kids ages 2 and 3. facebook.com/ITVplayschool
Mountaintop, Frost, Montessori School of Charlottesville (Cutler Lane and Gordon Avenue): Four quick-to-fill Montessori locations around Charlottesville. mountaintopmontessori.org, frostmontessori.org, montessoriofcville.org
Preschool Program of the Charlottesville City Schools: Free kindergarten prep for 4-year-olds at all six elementary schools. wwwold.ccs.k12.va.us/programs/docs/4yoletter.pdf
Trinity Presbyterian Church: Christian preschool cooperative open to non-church members. trinitycville.org/Great-Beginnings-Preschool—L.M.